Highlights
- Eren and Reiner, despite being on opposite sides of the conflict, share a complex and mirrored relationship shaped by their Eldian heritage and their experiences with war.
- Reiner’s viewpoint changes when he is forced to live among Eldians, leading to an internal conflict that splits his persona. Meanwhile, Eren’s desire to eliminate Titans shifts when he discovers the true enemy on the other side of the sea.
- Both Eren and Reiner, who sought to protect what they loved, are tragically forced to commit heinous acts in the theater of war, highlighting the true tragedy of Attack on Titan.
United by their Eldian heritage but divided by the world’s hatred, Eren Yeager and Reiner Braun have a complex yet mirrored relationship in Attack on Titan, which became an illustration of the series’ major themes. Born on opposites sides of the conflict between Eldia and Marley, the pair endured harsh childhoods and were made to confront the collateral damage of war at an early age. This made them developed similarly extremist viewpoints — where Eren would crush anyone who threatened him and Paradis without hesitation while Reiner was ready to do anything to protect his family in Liberio from the “Devils of Paradis.”
Reiner’s point of view soon changed as he was forced to live among the Eldians inside the Walls, which humanized them, triggering an internal conflict that split his persona into two. On the other hand, Eren harbored a desire to eradicate the Titans after the Fall of Wall Maria, until he learned that the true enemy was actually on the other side of the sea. By this point, his fate was all but sealed, with the wrath of the world bearing down upon Paradis for the crimes of their ancestors. This highlighted the true tragedy of Attack on Titan, where two individuals who sought to protect what they loved, were forced to commit heinous acts in the theater of war.
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Molded By Fire
Abandoned by his Marleyan father and manipulated by his mother, Reiner grew up in the Liberio internment zone under the cloud of Marley’s brainwashing. Under a considerable amount of pressure from his mother, Karina Braun, Reiner was made to join Marley’s Warrior program, which trained candidates who would inherit one of the Nine Titans. Seeking the status of an Honorary Marleyan for herself — granted only to Warriors and their families — Karina convinced Reiner to enlist with the promise of reuniting with his father.
Despite his struggles to keep up with the grueling program, Reiner’s determination helped him succeed and be chosen to inherit the Armored Titan. Entrusted with the mission to reclaim the Founding Titan, Reiner, Annie Leonhart, Marcel Galliard, and Bertholdt Hoover, were sent to the shores of Paradis, where they broke into Wall Maria — after the death of Marcel — killing innumerable innocents in the process. The group managed to infiltrate Paradis’ military, and graduated as part of the 104th Training Corps Southern Division, alongside Eren, Armin, and Mikasa.
On the other side of the conflict, Eren grew up in a loving household, with a mother who believed that he was special, and a father who had learned from past mistakes with his elder son Zeke. Although life inside the Walls was harsh, they lived in relative peace, but this would not last for long. The Fall of Wall Maria lead to Carla’s death and Grisha’s disappearance, as he sacrificed himself to give Eren the Attack Titan and Founding Titan.
As this was the first time Eren and Reiner’s paths collided, it had horrific ramifications on the former’s life, leading him to vow revenge against the Titans. This drive would push Eren to enlist in the military, as he prepared to devote his life to venturing beyond the Walls and eradicating every last Titan. Although he lacked natural talent, Eren managed to persevere just like Reiner did, and weather the struggles of his training.
Bearing The Hatred Of The World
Over the course of their time as new recruits, the pair grew fairly close, with Reiner developing into a sort of big brother to Eren. Due to his strength, confidence, reliable nature, and compassion, many of Reiner’s comrades in the military also looked up to him. In Eren’s case, his optimism and boundless desire to fight the Titans and venture beyond the Walls, earned the respect of his comrades, but his recklessness still caused some friction among the new recruits.
The capture of Annie Leonhart, who was exposed as the Female Titan, severely hindered Reiner and Bertholdt’s mission, and their days in Paradis’ military were numbered. At the time, Reiner was still reeling from the guilt of losing Marcel, and had adopted a new persona shortly before the Fall of Wall Maria, acting as the leader the Warriors needed. Simultaneously, his growing relationships with his comrades in the Survey Corps had created an unstable dichotomy in his psyche.
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Unable to reconcile the two halves of his persona, Reiner’s mind broke, and he was prone to dissociative episodes — where he would alternate between his Marleyan “Warrior” self, and the “Soldier” character he had developed on Paradis. The two halves would collide when Reiner and Bertholdt finally revealed themselves as the Armored Titan and Colossal Titan to Eren. Overcome with rage and shock at this betrayal, Eren swore to make both of them pay for their lies.
Soon after, it was revealed that Eren also held the Founding Titan within him, which terrified Reiner, as the fulfillment of his main objective now hinged on someone who would never go along with Marley’s wishes. Along with Bertholdt, he fled the scene to regroup with the Beast Titan, Zeke Yeager, and Pieck Finger, the Cart Titan. At this point, both Eren and Reiner had fully devoted themselves to their respective causes. Unfortunately for Reiner, the Scouts were eventually able to recover Shiganshina and Wall Maria after a long and hard battle, but endured massive casualties in the process.
Victims Of Fate
It was only after the time skip that the pair began to see themselves as two sides of the same coin. Reiner — now in the role of Attack on Titan’s protagonist from the Marleyan side — became a shell of his former self, as he struggled with the memories of his time on Paradis, the guilt of his crimes against the Eldians inside the Walls, and his repeated failure to obtain the Founding Titan, which had resulted in Bertholdt’s death. Haunted by his past, Reiner contemplated taking his own life on multiple occasions, but could not bring himself to as he felt that he still had to stay alive for the young Warrior recruits who would succeed him.
That being said, he had effectively lost his will to live and held an extremely low opinion of himself, culminating in multiple attempts to sacrifice himself in battle and atone for his sins. These suicidal tendencies would crop up at several instances in the War for Paradis. In turn, Eren had seen visions of the Rumbling and the genocide he would carry out on coming into contact with Historia Reiss and activating the Founding Titan.
Although he was desperate to find another way to ensure Paradis’ safety, he was all but convinced that his efforts were futile after the Scouts’ trip to Marley. With this, he fully accepted what lay before him and infiltrated Marley to collude with his half-brother Zeke, after disobeying orders from Paradis’ government. Seeing the persecution of Eldians on the Marleyan mainland, Eren realized that Reiner had been subjected to the same treatment and brainwashing — which portrayed Paradis as an island of “Devils.” Prior to the Raid on Liberio, Eren met with Reiner and confirmed the reasons behind the latter’s choice to destroy Wall Maria.
On hearing that Reiner was only doing what he thought was right to save the world, Eren was finally convinced that they were one and the same — helpless pawns in a larger cycle of violence and hatred. This realization was further enhanced when Eren reunited with Zeke in the War for Paradis and gained access to the Founding Titan, which warped his perception of past, present, and future to the point where he also lost control over his mind. In this vein, both Reiner and Eren were forced to bear the weight of the world’s sins and hatred, which lead them to become opposing characters in a war that neither could really bring to a conclusion.
Attack on Titan is available to stream on Amazon Prime.
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